Collaborative and Systems Approach to Transforming Primary Health Care in Manitoba First Nations Communities

The models of primary health care currently operating in First Nations communities are rooted in policies that were crafted without prior appropriate consultations. Many have continued to be applied even though they no longer adequately serve the needs of First Nations communities and people, if they ever did. Transforming primary health care will necessarily involve community- inclusive and self-determined reviewing of existing policies with a goal of implementing opportunities to update policies and models of care. This study was a partnership with university-based researchers, a First Nations health and social development entity separately established by a regional organization of First Nations Chiefs, and eight First Nations communities. A multi-pronged methodology was used in which five concurrent studies employing qualitative, quantitative, and case-study methods provided information on the primary health care experiences of First Nations and rural and remote communities. The program of research took a community-based participatory approach to engage participants in designing and carrying out data gathering while strengthening local capacity and encouraging long-term ownership of the process of research for change. Participating communities pointed out key setbacks to community- based primary health care, including differing models of care, jurisdictional complexities, funding that creates isolated programs within the same community, lack of promotion of cooperation among health care services, and a general acute approach to health care service delivery in the community. These barriers are both problems and opportunities for change. A borderless health care system that is jurisdictionally seamless and that promotes collaboration through cooperative funding models that reflect community priorities is recommended and advocated for all Manitoba First Nations communities.